The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.9 percent at 25,295.87, its third straight record and the second close above the 25,000 landmark.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.7 percent to end at 2,743.15 and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.8 percent to 7,136.56, both setting new closing records for the fourth straight day.

The US added just 148,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department reported, far below expectations, although unemployment held steady at its 17-year low of 4.1 percent.

The figures also lagged those in Thursday’s report by payroll firm ADP, which put private-sector job growth at 250,000 in the final month of the year.

But investors, who opened 2018 in a fever pitch to buy equities, were unfazed by the lackluster data, much as they have also overlooked any concerns about US-North Korea tensions or domestic political controversies.

“Whatever the news, the reaction thus far continues to be more of what we have been seeing,” said Adam Sarhan founder of 50 Park Investments.

“Investors are buying, dismissing all negative news, whether economic or geopolitical and they are just buying stocks.”

Aerospace giant Boeing led the Dow with a 4.1 percent gain, with Caterpillar, DowDuPont and Visa also scoring big increases.

Tech giants also were strong, with Google-parent Alphabet, Apple, Facebook and Amazon all winning more than one percent.

Other big winners included payment company Square, up 8.0 percent, and videogame developer Electronic Arts, up 4.9 percent.

Wall Street stocks powered higher Friday with the Dow surging further above 25,000 points as bullish investors shrugged off a disappointing US jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.9 percent at 25,295.87, its third straight record and the second close above the 25,000 landmark.
The broad-based S&P 500...